mattlucas 0 Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 Walking 22km in skate shoes with 15-20kg on your back is not recomended. But the rewards most certainly are. Here are a few pictures from my weekend trip into the Karasawa Valley out of Kamikochi. Rainy season my ass. Beautiful weather. These pictures were taken by Crazyski who posts here sometimes. He is visiting from America. Crazy and another friend climbed OkuHotaka and took these pictures on their ascent. Climbing up the couloir between the 2nd and 3rd subpeaks of MaeHotaka I skied the middle finger. Off falline, narrow and steep. Real fun. I had to side slip which is actually harder than turning through the narrowest part. Opening it up a where the couloir widens. Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted June 20, 2005 Author Share Posted June 20, 2005 The couloir was just over 600 metres in vert and at it's steepest a bit more than 45. Perfect. Link to post Share on other sites
woywoy 0 Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 That looks SICK Toque. Alaska-like lines in Japan in June! SICK. Link to post Share on other sites
1 4 Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 That first pic is superb. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 Toque that is pretty sic and the climbing picture makes it look super sic. It looked more than 45degrees man. did you boot up the whole couloir. PS how is matts leg? Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 Is crazyski = Matt, Toque? da one who use to live in Tokyo that I knew from Niseko? Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 arent they all named matt Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted June 20, 2005 Author Share Posted June 20, 2005 Crazyski was a JET from Gifu city last year. He is a med student now at U of Chicogo It seems we are all named Matt though. Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted June 20, 2005 Author Share Posted June 20, 2005 I did climb up the entire thing. Was fun near the top as I had to bury the ax right up to the blade and then pull myself up 2 steps and repeat. Fun times. Matt is coming out this weekend. I'll give him a kick and see how loud he screams. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 did crazy ski too? That seems a bit steeper than 45 if you were pushing the axe in that far. Ill budget better for next season so that I can get to see kamikouchi for myself. Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted June 20, 2005 Author Share Posted June 20, 2005 He borrowed my gear for a run and had a good time. It was his first time on AT gear and skins. He is a really good skier though and looked good. I'm not good at judging angle. Maybe it was. I have pictures from my camera that I have to get developed. Gives a skiers perspective. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 did you feel good the whole climb up? doesnt look like there are many places to take a break? Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted June 20, 2005 Author Share Posted June 20, 2005 I did feel pretty good. Once it gets steep the natural happy drugs kick in so I was able to go up quickly. I just set little goals. Go to the next crack in the snow or the next rock. Catch my breath for a few seconds and then keep going. I was sitting in the col 90 minutes after starting which felt pretty good. I could have taken my bag off at one of the cracks at the downhill side is usually flat. Could even have crawled in for protection but I wasn't very tired at the time. Link to post Share on other sites
akibun 0 Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 Amazing picture! When will you stop?! Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted June 20, 2005 Author Share Posted June 20, 2005 Thanks Akibun I have 1 more ski trip planned in July before I have to start breaking in my new hiking boots. Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted June 20, 2005 Author Share Posted June 20, 2005 Crevasses in Japan????? A water pipe running from the creek to the hut has worked it's way down very deep into the snow. Link to post Share on other sites
giggsy 0 Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 Quote: Walking 22km in skate shoes with 15-20kg on your back is not recomended. How long did that take you? Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 killer pics. see any other groups skiing up there?? Link to post Share on other sites
sava 0 Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 nice how steep ? Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 he said 45 plus degrees. Link to post Share on other sites
sava 0 Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 whoops got distracted by the pretty pictures that's embarassing Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 sorry should have added a wasnt supposed to be so blunt Link to post Share on other sites
sava 0 Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 i should have changed my post to ask what the temperature was Link to post Share on other sites
dale#1 1 Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 Superb pics Toque. Where's that last ski trip going to be then? Link to post Share on other sites
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